With a “human caused” wildfire surging to 2,400 acres overnight and still threatening some homes in the hills above Goleta, Santa Barbara County has declared a state of emergency.

The county Board of Supervisors today ratified the declaration made late Wednesday night.

This declaration “helps the county to compete for firefighting resources that are presently in short supply statewide,” officials said.

“Sundowner” winds helped fuel the overnight growth of the fire that began Tuesday evening along West Camino Cielo Road, near the ridge of the Santa Ynez Mountains, officials said.

Smoke from the blaze caused a main power line to the South Coast to shut down Wednesday night, leading to a widespread power outage that affected as many as 150,000 people from Goleta to Carpinteria. Power was gradually restored overnight.

Fire officials have provided no estimates of containment, although Wednesday afternoon the figure stood at only 5 percent.

The specific cause of the blaze has not been reported, but officials have said that humans are responsible.

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No structures have been burned and no major injuries reported as of this morning, according to Capt. Eli Iskow of the county Fire Department.

Dubbed the Gap Fire, the blaze is being fought by about 350 firefighters on the ground and attacked from above with four air tankers and four helicopters dropping fire retardant and water. More resources were expected to come into the area today.

According to the 11:30 a.m. update the fire had grown by 2,140 acres in the last 12 hours and roughly eight miles of fireline needed to be built.

The arrival of daylight meant helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft could resume dropping water and retardant on the fire, officials said.

Cooler weather this morning helped calm the blaze, but firefighters are expecting winds will pick up again this afternoon, officials said.

About 45 people living in ranch homes in La Patera and Glen Annie canyons north of Goleta were under a mandatory evacuation order, issued soon after the fire erupted Tuesday evening.

Besides the dozens of people affected by the mandatory evacuations, an evacuation warning has been expanded to include residents in the area north of Cathedral Oaks Road between Fairview Avenue and Winchester Canyon.

Overnight the blaze was active on the east and west flanks, according to a statement released by the U.S. Forest Service, and had a slow progression to the south.